Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. The UN Women Albania Country Office is currently implementing is Strategic Note 2022-2026 which aims to ensure that all women and girls enjoy and exercise their human rights in a gender-equal society and meaningfully contribute to Albania’s sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and EU integration. 

Within this framework, UN Women is implementing several initiatives that address violence against women and promote gender statistics, including the Sida contribution to the Implementation of the UN Women Strategic Note 2022-2026, UN Joint Programe Ending Violence Against Women in Albania Phase II, funded by Sida, and the “EU4Gender Equality II – Gender Equality Facility in Albania,” funded by the European Union. Across these initiatives, UN Women aims to work closely with national statistical institution to strengthen production, availability, and use of gender statistics across all areas of gender equality and inform evidence-based policy making. 

Since adoption of Agenda 2030, Albania was one of the first country to conduct the comprehensive prevalence survey on violence against women in 2018. The next round of VAW survey will be conducted in 2026-2027. The VAW prevalence survey is one of the priority activities in Albania’s Multi-Annual Programme on Official Statistics 2022–2026, which defines the official statistical operations to be carried out in the country. Its implementation is further supported by the Memorandum of Understanding signed between UN Women and INSTAT in 2024 on strengthening gender statistics, which provides the broader cooperation framework for advancing the production and use of gender statistics in Albania. In January 2026 Albania adopted the new Law on the Prevention and Protection from Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, which represents a significant milestone, as it broadens the scope of protection beyond domestic violence to address all forms of violence against women, including psychological, economic, sexual and technology-facilitated violence. The surveys will be implemented in accordance with the methodology of the 2027 wave of the EU Survey on Gender-Based Violence (EU-GBV), ensuring the regular production of EU-wide, comparable data to meet policy needs and to support monitoring of the Istanbul Convention and compliance with Directive (EU) 2024/1385. The surveys will be conducted in line with the European Statistical System (ESS) agreement[1].

Moreover, it will follow globally agreed methodological and ethical standards and guidelines such as WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence, EU Wide Survey on gender-based survey, United Nations Statistical Commission Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women: Statistical Surveys. It will generate internationally comparable data on the various forms of violence experienced by women in Albania. Such data are critical for monitoring SDG indicator 5.2 on violence against women and will directly contribute to the Gender Equality Index (additional domain of violence) produced by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). They will also strengthen Albania’s capacity to meet its EU accession reporting obligations in the field of social statistics and gender equality. It is also important that relevant VAW indicators and definition/frameworks put forward by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 57th session, the Declaration on Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) General Recommendation #19 are incorporated.

In this context, the UN Women Albania country office is seeking to recruit an international expert to support the Albanian National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) to design and implement the VAW prevalence survey. The international consultant will be supporting the revision of the survey methodology (including the sample, data collection tools, fieldwork procedures, etc.) and provide technical guidance at all stages of the implementation of the study, from design phase to the data analysis and dissemination. 

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Under the overall supervision of the Head of Programmes and close collaboration with  the Research and Data Analyst, and the EVAW Project Manager, , , the international expert will provide technical and methodological support to INSTAT for the preparation, implementation, and analysis of the national Violence against Women (VAW) Survey in Albania, as follows:

Overall technical and methodological leadership

• Lead the technical and methodological survey activities supporting INSTAT in the preparation, revision, and implementation of the national VAW survey, building on the 2018 prevalence survey and aligned with the EU Survey on Gender-Based Violence (EU-GBV) methodology.
• Ensure full compliance with Eurostat methodological requirements, Directive (EU) 2024/1385, the Istanbul Convention, and UN guidelines.

Survey design and methodology

• Review and guide the development of the sample strategy and design. Support the adaptation and validation of the survey questionnaire, ensuring alignment with the EU-GBV core questionnaire and international comparability.
• Review and support the preparation of all survey instruments and materials, including advance letters and respondent information materials, fieldwork protocols, enumerator instructions, and manuals.

Training and capacity building

• Support INSTAT in developing and/or updating the ethical protocol for the VAW survey, in line with Eurostat, ESS, WHO, and UN Women guidelines.
• Support INSTAT in developing a comprehensive training package for field staff.
• Design and deliver a Training of Trainers for INSTAT staff responsible for the VAW survey.

Stakeholder consultations 

• Support INSTAT in planning and conducting consultations with national stakeholders at key stages of the survey.

Pilot testing

• Provide guidance on the pilot testing / field testing of survey instruments and procedures.
• Review pilot results and recommend adjustments to tools, protocols, and training materials.

Following the pilot survey, INSTAT will revise the questionnaire and all related materials, incorporating lessons learned. It will then train field staff and conduct full-scale data collection in November–December 2026.

After fieldwork, INSTAT will carry out the preparation of the raw dataset, data cleaning (removal of duplicates and completeness checks). These activities will be implemented over the period August 2026 to March 2027.

Data processing and quality assurance

• Provide technical support to INSTAT on data processing, including data editing, validation, weighting procedures, and documentation of data processing steps.
• Ensure adherence to Eurostat quality standards throughout data management and processing.

Tabulation and analysis 

• Support INSTAT in developing a tabulation plan, including the calculation of core EU-GBV indicators.
• Support comparability and trend analysis with the 2018 VAW survey.
• Co-lead the preparation of the draft analytical report in close cooperation with the INSTAT team.

Dissemination

• Support and participate in the presentation and dissemination of survey findings to different groups of stakeholders, including policy makers, technical audiences, and partners, including participation in the survey launch event.

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of up to four trips to Tirana, Albania.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues.

• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Competencies in coordination, planning and teamwork.
• A commitment to quality products and deadlines.

Education and Certification:

• Advanced degree (Master) in Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Human Rights, Sociology or related field, and/or senior academic experience

• A first-level university degree in Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Human Rights in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

  Experience:

• A minimum of 10 (ten) years of progressively responsible and relevant experience in the fields of human rights, social inclusion, and/or GBV/VAW
• A minimum of seven years’ experience of research and statistical processes in the area of GBV/VAW. 
• Experience of leading at least 2 (two)  household surveys on GBV/VAW at international and/or national level.
• Demonstrated experience with Eurostat, EIGE, and FRA methodological requirements is required, including direct experience in implementing internationally recognized survey methodologies for measuring the prevalence of gender-based violence and violence against women, the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women, and/or other comparable international survey frameworks.
• Previous training/facilitation expertise in conducting household surveys on the topics of GBV/VAW or related issues
• Proven experience in the use of statistical software (STATA, SPSS) 

Languages:

Fluency in English is required.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.